Zach woke several hours later to find Kriss, with bandages in hand, staring at him. She blushed deep pink when he caught her.

"Stand up and raise your arms," she asked him, frustrated.

He obeyed as a smile spred across his face and let the girl wrap the bandages around his mid-section.

At first Zach thought Kriss's hands were soft, gentle, and sure; however, he soon realized they were acctually stiff, chapped, and clumsy. When she came around front of him, after checking the layers of material, he took up her hands in his own. He felt the many cracks and cuts around the edges and the stiffness of her fingers when she tried to pull away.

Zach gently squeezed her hands and raised his face to hers. "None of that, now. You cared for me, let me care for you in return." He looked back to their hands and nearly dropped them like hot coals; blood stained her hands and oozed onto his skin. As he turned them over and studied them this way and that, Zach demanded an anwser, something he rarely did. "How long has it been since you began to care for me?"

"Um..." was the reply.

"Damn it, Krissandra! How long?" he nearly yelled this time, another thing not often done. Zach stopped moving her hands and glared at her, still waiting. Shock, fear, and mistrust met him. "Krissandra, Kriss, please forgive me. I-I didn't mean to yell. Why are you so scared of me?" Krissandra only shook her head, eyes wide in fear.

She was mumbling something and Zach caught only snatches of what she said. "...regret your decision...not innocent..." She jerked her hands from his and fled. He flinched slightly as a door slammed downstairs and silence settled in.

A piece of the room became blurry and revealed a solid object, a person, fairy to be technical. This fairy was almost equal to Zach in height and age, but the similarities stopped there. The newcomer had firey red hair and pale skin. Brilliant green eyes glared at Zach, who bowed to his fairy kin. The other did not care and stood stoticly, clearly dissapointed in something--someone.

"Real nice job, Zach, scare the poor girl! We need her despretly and you make her run away. Why didn't you go after her?"

"Prince Niro, I would have but I'm injured." Zach reamained bowed though it pained him. "Prince Niro..."

"Yes, yes, of course, stand up. My goodness man, is that where you were injured? Why didn't you heal yourself?"

"I tried, but the blades I was cut with were coated in numbmagic. It is gone now, thanks to Kriss, but my magic is not yet restored."

Niro placed his hands on either of Zach's shoulders. "Get her back. I'm depending on you to keep her safe 'till I call. Keep her from harm, especially Mem. You know what would happen if he got a hold of her. Now go, reason with her." Niro reached into one of the pouches hanging at his hip and removed a small jar. "Here, take this too. It's Heal-all; use it sparingly, it's the last bottle I have. Good luck my friend." Niro left as he had come, leaving Zach holding the jar.

He sighed heavily as he set the jar on the night stand, beside the empty water bowl. It was then he saw the pile of clean clothes. There was a pair of jeans and a loose white shirt, all about his size. Zach figured Kriss had laid them out for him before he had woken the second time. He changed into the jeans and realized they fit relativly well, as did the shirt. The clean clothes felt good against his skin. He took a deep breath and headed downstairs.

It may have taken a while to find Kriss had there not been sobs coming from the kitchen. Zach cautiously crept to the door and listened to the girl crying. Occasionally she would call herself stupid or hit something. Zach couldn't listen very long and tried the door; it swung open effortlessly.

"Stupid! I tried to help and find that-that innocence I claimed he had, but-but..." Here she sobbed, not realizing Zach was watching. "I'm so s-stupid; I'm an id--"

"No, you're not." Kriss spun around to face him, hair bouncing to a stop. Her green eyes were red with crying and tear trails stained her cheeks. Her hands were still bleeding, a pool forming on the table. "You're not stupid or an idiot." He didn't notice Kriss's hand tighten around the knife from earlier.

When Zach started to step towards her, Kriss pointed the blade at his throat. "Take even one step and you'll regret it." Her eyes were narrow and, though still puffy and red, very menacing. Zach eyed the blade and circled around, trying to get between Kriss and the door.

"Kriss, put the blade down. You don't know where it came from. I don't want to hurt you."

"You hurt me? Ha; if you react anything like you did earlier, it will be you hurting, not me. And for your information, this balde came from the man who wanted to kill you. I made him drop it and now it's mine."

Zach's eyes widened as he realized who's blade it was. "Kriss, put it down. You don't know what it can do."

"I suppose you do?" Her emerald eyes narrowed farther as she spoke.

"Yes. It will turn on you if you don't have control. Please, put it down." Zach stepped back, trying to put as much space as possible between him and the blade. Kriss took a step closer, bringing him all the closer to pain and death. He reached behind him and felt the back door; there were counters on either side of him. Zach was trapped. If Kriss took one more step, he was toast.

Sweat beaded on his forehead and tension built in his heart. He didn't know whether she would take that final step or realize what she was doing and stop. He hoped she would stop then saw she wouldn't. Her eyes were dull, the knife's magic had already taken her over. That one step was all Mem needed to destroy him.

"Krissandra, I know you're in there. Please listen to me." Zach began to reason. "You don't want to do this; you want to find my innocence. I swear, I have innocence, just think about this. Think about your family, your friends, your brother!" As if waiting for those very words, the knife tumbled from her hand and clattered to the floor. Recognition sparked in Kriss's eyes and she came back to herself. Unfortunatly for Zach, this revalation came too late. The knife stopped moving two and a half feet from Kriss, a whole two feet inside Zach's safe zone.

Zach had been unconcious the last time, but now he was awake to feel it all. First his body went numb and collapsed, no longer able to hold his weight. He looked up at Kriss before the first fit came over him. The fear and regret in her eyes haunted him even as pain threatened to pull him apart.

What is she regretful of? Zach thought even as he cringed and kicked out in pain, never screaming. Is the regret my fault or some other thing? Zach watched through far away eyes as Kriss tried to help and he kicked her; he watched helplessly as he hurt her uncontrolably.

"K-k-kr-i-i-s-s-s-s-s..."

"Zach, I'm here, just hold on. I'm going to try and help. I don't know how but I'll try."

"K-n-n-ni-i-i-f-f-e-e..." Zach's fist came up and slammed into Kriss's face; she didn't flinch. "M-m-m-o-o-v-e..." He bit back another scream, the only thing he could control.

"Move? Move what?" Kriss watched Zach's eyes as they darted from her to where the knife had dropped and back. "The knife, of course!" The girl looked around, but the knife had disappeared. "I can't find it, Zach! The knife's gone!"

Zach knew; he could feel it moving of it's own accord up his side. He tried to squeeze Kriss's hand repeatedly; she got the message as the blade lined itself up to stab Zach. She grabbed for it, Zach saw her do it, but she was a second too late. She gripped the hilt after the blade had buried a sixth of its lenght into his side. Zach saw Kriss throw the knife before his world went black.